Bashar al-Assad: 'I must live and die in Syria'

President Bashar al-Assad of Syria on Thursday contemptuously dismissed David
Cameron's offer of safe passage out of the country saying he was "tougher
than Gaddafi" and "must live and die" in the country of his
birth.

In the interview with a Russian television station Mr Assad said he did not think the West would intervenePhoto: AP

Mr Assad used an interview with a Russian television station to insist he was his own man, and would not give in to international calls for him to stand down.

"I am not a puppet and the West did not manufacture me in order that I leave to the West or any other country," he said. "I am Syrian, I am Syrian-made, and I must live and die in Syria."

In an attempt to display confidence that he would succeed in putting down the rebellion against his rule, which has already cost at least 50,000 lives by most estimates, he said he did not think the West would intervene.

"I think that the cost of a foreign invasion of Syria - if it happens - would be bigger than the entire world can bear," he said. "This will have a domino effect that will affect the world from the Atlantic to the Pacific."

Mr Cameron has led a toughening of Britain's policy towards Syria this week. As well as an interview in which he offered to arrange a safe exit for Mr Assad, he promised Britain would do more to help the Syrian opposition.

In a statement to the House of Commons, William Hague, the foreign secretary, said he had authorised officials to meet representatives of the armed opposition for the first time.

The Daily Telegraph also understands that Mr Cameron is keen to lead a new effort to supply arms, easing the European Union arms embargo if necessary.

A meeting of the National Security Council next week is expected to outline the plans.

"The point of changing the embargo is to allow our people to approach rebel groups with something to offer," a source said.

"In time there will be a need for a quartermaster role to assist the rebels. That will involve sourcing small arms, ammunition and other equipment from places like Libya and the former eastern bloc and this is something where British involvement could come.

"There is an important message to Assad that the rebels will be getting more arms and they will be more robust. It gives him an incentive to start dealing with the ceasefire mediators and possibly take up the offer of safe passage."

The source added: "The Europeans are not going to go for a relaxation of the embargo just because it is proposed by the UK. They have their own interests and many would be reluctant.

"But the PM is not keen to be in the position that we are in now in a few months."

Rebels fighting on the front line complain that Britain and America's refusal to arm the rebels or impose a no-fly zone on Mr Assad's jets and helicopters shows they are happy for him to stay in office.

"Until yesterday, Cameron said nothing," said Mohammed al-Hammoudi, a brigade leader from Jabal Zawiya in Idlib province, recovering in hospital in Turkey from severe injuries from an air strike.

"He said he would start talking to the opposition – but he did not say he would arm us. As for America, it says it is the world's leader, but it hardly deserves to be called that." Western officials though have been dismayed by the splits in the opposition, both inside and outside the country, including the disparate groups meeting in Qatar to try to form a united front.

"In many respects the opposition groups we have been talking to so far are a complete shambles," the source said.

Britain and America are also under pressure from Turkey, a key Nato ally and already suffering the spillover effects of the conflict, to take a stronger stance.

A Turkish source said it was proposing a safe zone in northern Syria as a base for all refugees, the military leadership and an interim government, all protected by Patriot missiles stationed on the Turkish side of the border.

"The international community is not lifting the veto on giving the rebels heavy weapons," the source said. "So instead Turkey went to Nato to propose this strategy as a way of protecting the Syrian people, given that they are not being allowed to protect themselves." The flood of refugees is putting huge pressure on the country. The International Committee of the Red Cross also said yesterday it was having difficulty coping with the worsening of the situation.

The Foreign Office maintained that Britain would support the renewal of an EU arms embargo when the issue comes up at a foreign ministers meeting in a few weeks and has no formal proposal to change the scope of the ban.

"As the PM has said we are not currently planning to arm the Syrian opposition," a spokesman said. "Our objective is to end the conflict, avoid a descent into a more bloody and protracted civil war and achieve a political transition in Syria. All our support is in compliance with both the EU arms embargo and our own stringent export licensing laws."